Objectives

In the true spirit of Game of Thrones, the series Facebook page has an epic following of nearly 20M fans. For the Season 6 red carpet premiere, HBO decided to reach this audience. Live.

Strategy and Execution

On April 10, the team lit up the Game of Thrones Facebook + Instagram profiles at the Chinese Theatre, creating a rich visual environment designed to mimic the series' iconic House of Black and White and Hall of Faces. The Facebook Live platform was flanked by a giant raven structure and an LED wall that were populated with Funko photos from Instagram, integrating even more social elements to the show.

The event kicked off with a special, live introduction to the show using Facebook Live from Sophie Turner (Sansa Stark) who then handed off the phone to the host, Veronica Belmont, to kick off the red carpet interviews. Fans also got in on the action. All night, Veronica asked cast members fan questions from Facebook.

The Facebook Live was shot entirely with an iPhone 6S+ using a multi-rig shoulder mount for stabilization, mobility, and high lens quality. The crew included an audio technician and floor producers on the ground that were able to create a dynamic run of show and guarantee a seamless Facebook Live experience as talent arrived. Host Veronica Belmont conducted a series of red carpet interviews with high profile cast members—including Emilia Clarke, Peter Dinklage, and creators D.B. Weiss and David Benioff.

Four lucky HBO NOW superfans scored an invite to the big night. The group had front-row seats to the Facebook Live show and were interviewed on-air. More than one fan called the evening "once in a lifetime." Another pair of fans won tickets after donating to the International Rescue Committee, who partnered with the Game of Thrones cast to help the world's refugees. The pair received full VIP treatment and even met the cast.

After their on-air interviews, the cast headed to the "House of Black and White" Instagram studio, where they snapped shots with their beloved Funkos dolls and took playful Boomerangs that were posted to the Game of Thrones Instagram profile.

Results

• Game of Thrones continued its unprecedented growth for an HBO Original Series, delivering nearly 26M viewers in its 6th season --- another record high.

• Within 24 hours, the Facebook Live streams from the red carpet racked up over 7M views and reached over 10M people on the platform, making the event the most-viewed red carpet stream in HBO history.

• The "House of Black and White" Instagram studio photos and boomerangs were wildly popular and helped grow the profile to over 1.6M followers, making it HBO's largest on the platform.

Media